Evidence against Vince Marinello called 'ample' for murder conviction

An appeals court has upheld Vince Marinello's second-degree murder conviction, rejecting the longtime New Orleans newsman's claims that he deserves a new trial because of judicial errors and prosecutorial overreaching.

View full sizeTimes-Picayune archiveVince Marinello turned 73 this month at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

The ruling, released Wednesday by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles, means Marinello, 73, who is serving a life sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, now hangs his hopes that the state Supreme Court will look at his conviction for the death of his estranged wife, Liz Marinello, 45.

"I didn't think he had any grounds for an appeal to get a new trial," said Liz's mother, Bertha Norman of Purvis, Miss. "He tried. I'm just glad he didn't have any luck."

Marinello was convicted of planning the crime weeks in advance, disguising himself as a scruffy man and waiting for Liz to emerge from a regularly scheduled appointment at a Metairie Road office building on Aug. 31, 2006. She was shot twice in the face in the parking lot and died early the next day. The couple was amid a contentious end to their brief marriage, which she sought to annul on grounds of bigamy.

Marinello was convicted in December 2008 following a two-week trial. He denied being the killer and claimed in his appeal that he was robbed of a fair trial because of eight errors made by the judge and prosecutors. As such, he said, his conviction and life sentence should be tossed out.

Third Circuit Judges Marc Amy, John Saunders and Elizabeth Pickett rejected all eight claims, including one of insufficient evidence. Writing for the panel in a 43-page decision, Amy discussed the array of evidence the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and prosecutors gathered, including a 14-point checklist the authorities said Marinello wrote in planning his wife's murder.

"In light of the evidence, it is apparent that the state presented ample evidence to support the jury's conviction, specifically the defendant's identity as the perpetrator," Amy wrote. "Witness testimony indicated the deteriorating and volatile nature of the couple's relationship and, further, indicated that the defendant was aware of the time of Liz's standing appointment."

The Lake Charles appellate court handled the case because Judge Conn Regan of the 24th Judicial District Court moved the trial to Lafayette. Ruling on a defense request to move the trial, Regan found that extensive pretrial news media coverage tainted the pool of potential jurors in Jefferson Parish.

While Marinello claimed he was en route to visit friends near Jackson, Miss., when the shooting happen, the appeals court noted that the jury could have disregarded the alibi in light of his cellular phone records that showed he had left the New Orleans area later than he claimed.

The court also ruled against Marinello in his claim that prosecutors unfairly suggested he was tied to the Mafia. In cross-examining Marinello, Assistant District Attorney Tommy Block asked whether he had "a fascination with the Mafia," and made numerous references to the mob during the questioning and in closing argument.

Marinello denied mob connections, and he said in his appeal that prosecutors presented no evidence to show otherwise.

"Repeated references to the 'Mafia' were made up to convince the jury that Mr. Marinello was indeed a member of this vicious crime organization, a man capable of killing his wife," Marinello wrote in a brief he wrote and filed with the 3rd Circuit in June.

The appeals court found it could not consider the argument, because there was no objection to the references as they were made during the trial.